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Ok. My roommate got a new puppy for Christmas, named Bailey, and I'm worried about Baxter when they play with each other. Bailey is GOING to be a BIG dog. She already weighs more than Baxter and is able to dominate Baxter most of the time. When I let them play, they growl and snap at each other, and sometimes Baxter will yelp a little. However, he always runs back to her begging for more. Should I let them play? I always watch them closely, and if I think it is getting to out of control, I step in. But I wasn't sure if I was teaching Baxter good behavior or not, beacuse everytime after they play together, he is really hyper and snappy towards me.

And I really don't like her dog... she always comes into my room (Baxter's room too) and tries to eat his food and play with his toys. She hasn't really bought Bailey many toys, and it's annoying to have Bailey come into Baxter's territory and try to take over. I don't know what to do!

Puppies can be very exuberant and really don't know their own strength. So please be very careful when they play together. The growling, snapping and even the occasional yip are all normal puppy play. Gracie Ruth & Yogi can sound like a rabid pack of wild dogs tearing each others throats out sometimes. But when I look over to see what's going on they are hardly touching at all, it's all noise. They do play hard and sometimes one or the other will yip, that's to be expected. It's obvious when they are only playing, trust me you will know if/when it turns serious. What you want to do if you need to step in is discipline the one that went too far. I just take my hand and firmly but gently pin the offender to the floor, tell them Quit! and hold them until they are still. When I let them up I give hugs and kisses to all and then let them go back to playing. You are the boss, it's up to you to make sure they understand that.

As for Bailey coming into the room, unfortunately, there's little that you can do to stop that. You could keep the door closed or buy a baby gate so that it will keep Bailey out but still have the door open. Living with roommates always has it's own unique challenges. Communication will be the best way to over come most problems. Talk to your roomie and see if there are things that can be changed to make it a pleasant home for all concerned.

Thank you TeresaM! That was really great advice! Only once I have I really thought that Baxter and Bailey were playing too rough, and I stepped in immediately. My roomie never seems to care when they are playing, because Bailey will obviously be all right.

But I think I will buy a baby gate, and talk to my roomie about the situation. Because something definitely needs to change.

Speaking from experience ....
I have two males
and both of them are 14 weeks old now

They can be very boisterous .. .and it sounds a ot worse than it really is
They don't know their own strength yet and how to actually play so there will be some Yelps esp in the beginning before they know each others strengths
it's MUCH better that they get together now as puppies because later on there will be territory issues to deal with